KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar was treading water today, unable to make up lost ground against the US dollar but steady ahead of Thursday's employment data.
Around 5.35pm, the kiwi was buying US66.95c, a few pips below this morning's rate and about half a cent below Friday's US67.44c level. The kiwi was at A86.96c from A87.09c on Friday, at 0.5270 euro from 0.5278, and 79.06 yen from 78.99.
The trade weighted index eased to 67.02 from 67.22.
The kiwi was likely to be rangebound this week, stuck below fresh highs but supported enough to hold around current levels, Westpac Bank said.
"While the NZ dollar should be able to at least keep pace with the major currencies, the nine-month high of US67.55c reached last week is not too far away and is likely to act as a barrier to further gains in the near term."
Pinning down the kiwi, the greenback surged on Friday's data showing the United States economy created more jobs than previously estimated, indicating tight labour markets which may eventually feed into higher interest rates.
Wage and employment data today showed ongoing labour market tightness and wage pressure, although economists said the Quarterly Employment Survey and Labour Cost Index were unlikely to perturb the Reserve Bank.
Of more importance is Thursday's Household Labour Force Survey, the official employment measure, which is forecast to show a small increase in the unemployment rate to 3.7 percent.
Reuters currency rates:
5.35pm today 5pm Friday
NZ dlr/US dlr US66.95c US67.44c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A86.96c A87.09c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5270 0.5278
NZ dlr/yen 79.06 78.99
NZ dlr/stg 35.23p 35.34p
NZ TWI 67.02 67.22
Australian dollar US76.98c US77.42c
Euro/US dollar 1.2706 1.2779
US dollar/yen 118.08 117.13
- NZPA